Healthy Snacks

Always have healthy snacks ready in convenient places

Another key strategy is to keep healthy snacks in convenient places, such as in your desk drawer, the car’s glove compartment, or your gym bag. For example, put raw veggies or sliced apples in a zip lock bag, and put peanut butter or hummus in a small container.

This way you’ll always have a healthy, convenient snack ready to eat when you begin to feel hungry. This keeps your energy level up and your metabolism working efficiently, and will prevent you from losing control later in the day.

These strategically placed snacks will be a life-saver if you’re going straight from work to a party, for example, where you don’t know what they’ll be serving. Most social gatherings have some sort of veggie tray and then some sort of protein, such as shrimp or chicken skewers, which would make a perfect choice: fibrous carbs with protein.

But if you’re not sure what will be served or if you want to make sure that you arrive with a little something in your belly so that you’re not starved, having these snacks with you will help you stay focused, energized and on track.

Key points to remember:

1. Prepare healthy snacks and keep them in convenient places. This will help ensure that you keep energy levels, up and your metabolism working efficiently, and prevent you from losing control at meals.

   
   

   Here are some healthy snack ideas:

   
   

   Calorie-Free Snacks

   Salad greens (lettuce, spinach and romaine)

   1 cup raw vegetables (cucumbers, mushrooms, celery or broccoli, for example)

   Frozen Crystal Light Popsicle

   Diet Jello

   Bouillon or skimmed broth (preferably low-sodium)

   
   

   Very Low-Calorie Snacks

   5 Saltine crackers

   2 cups air-popped popcorn

   3 graham crackers (2 1/2 inch square pieces)

   1 rice cake with 1 tbsp. part-skim ricotta cheese

   1 large carrot with 1 tbsp. fat-free dressing

   1 small piece of fruit (apple or pear)

   1 medium piece of fruit (peach, orange or nectarine)

   1/2 small banana

   1 tbsp. raisins

   1 slice lean turkey or chicken cold cut

   1 ounce low-fat cheese

   1/2 cup sugar-free pudding made with non-fat milk

   
   

   Low-Calorie Snacks

   Toasted English muffin with jelly

   1 small tortilla with 1 ounce low-fat melted cheese and salsa

   1 cup cereal with 1/2 cup non-fat milk

   Small baked potato with salsa, non-fat sour cream or non-fat yogurt topping

   Mini-pizza: 1/2 English muffin or bagel with 1-ounce low-fat cheese and tomato sauce

   12 baked tortilla chips with salsa

   1/2 bagel with alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, tomato and non-fat cream cheese

   1/2 sandwich made with lean turkey or chicken, lettuce, tomato and mustard

   Grape Nuts (1/3 cup) with 4 ounces non-fat vanilla yogurt

   Small whole-wheat plain bagel

   12 Baked Lay's potato chips

   Baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon

   Large frozen banana with 1 tbsp. peanut butter

   Non-fat cottage cheese with fresh fruit

   8-ounce carton low-fat or nonfat yogurt

   1/2 cup sugar-free or fat-free ice cream